Via TownHall, yet another Obama promise thrown on the ash-heap of history.

UNION THUGS CRASH TEA PARTY RALLY – ASSAULT CONSERVATIVE PROTESTERS–
Far left thugs get out and get a little bloody…

Former Massachusetts Republican Congressional candidate Marty Lamb was assaulted and knocked to the ground by a union thug yesterday at a tea party rally.
VA Right reported:

DaTech Guy has more on this rally and latest assault by a leftist thug. He says the union members were signing in (so they could get paid?).

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House Republicans emerged from last week’s government spending debate with a plan that cuts $61 billion from current levels — a notable achievement that sets an important marker for the coming showdown with President Obama and Senate Democrats. In the course of the debate, 47 Republicans emerged as rock-solid conservatives willing to cut spending repeatedly.

More than 100 amendments were considered during the continuing resolution debate, 21 of which were unambiguous spending cuts. Heritage Action for America, a sister organization to my employer, compiled the votes on amendments that cut non-security spending.

The list includes some familiar names like Reps. Jim Jordan (R-Ohio) and Jeff Flake (R-Ariz.) and even a few members of GOP leadership. It also offers clues as to how Republicans might tackle spending cuts on two other measures in the coming months — raising the debt ceiling and producing a budget.

So who are the 47 conservative all stars? Listed alphabetically by last name:

Amash, Bachmann, Broun, Campbell, Chabot, Chaffetz, Coffman, Duncan (TN), Duncan (SC), Flake, Fleming, Franks, Garrett, Gowdy, Graves (GA), Heller, Hensarling, Herger, Huelskamp, Huizenga, Hurt, Jenkins, Jordan, Lamborn, Mack, McClintock, McHenry, Miller (FL), Mulvaney, Myrick, Neugebauer, Paul, Pence, Pompeo, Price (GA), Ribble, Rokita, Royce, Scalise, Schweikert, Scott (GA), Scott (SC), Sessions, Walsh, Wilson, Woodall, and Young (IN).

It’s refreshing to see the names of Conference Chairman Jeb Hensarling (R-Tex.), NRCC Chairman Pete Sessions (R-Tex.) and Policy Committee Chairman Tom Price (R-Ga.), all members of the Republican leadership team, on the list. Rep. Tim Scott (R-S.C.), freshman representative to leadership, and Rep. Mike Pence (R-Ind.) also set a positive example.

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If any one thing estimated in the Commerce Department’s National Income and Product Accounts may be described as the engine of economic growth, private domestic business net investment is that thing. This variable has such tremendous importance because, if accurately gauged, it tells us better than any other measure how many resources are being devoted to building up the private business capital stock and improving it by innovation. An economy that has anemic private business net investment almost certainly will falter soon, if it is not doing so already.

Notice that every aspect of this awkwardly named variable is critical.

• First, it has to do with private investment, not so-called government investment. The latter, which looms fairly large in the official accounts, ought never to have been labeled as investment, because it comes about not as a result of wealth-seeking motives and rational economic calculation, but as a result of political motives, calculations, and actions that often clash with the creation of real wealth, rather than contributing to it.

• Second, we are looking here at business investment, excluding what the Bureau of Economic Analysis calls private “household and institutions” investment, which has somewhat murky underlying objectives, determinants, and consequences.

• Third, we are examining net, rather than gross, investment. The latter includes a large element of expenditure aimed merely at compensating for the wear and tear and obsolescence of the existing stock of private business capital. For example, even at the most recent peak for gross private domestic business investment, in the third quarter of 2007, it was running at $1,661 billion (annual rate), whereas net private domestic business investment was only $463 billion (annual rate), or about 28 percent of the total. (The investment data cited in this article are taken from Table 5.1, Saving and Investment by Sector, in the National Income and Product Accounts, accessed 02/16/11.)

It is obviously important that businesses compensate for ongoing depreciation of their existing stock of capital goods, which includes structures, tools and equipment, software, and inventories. But unless firms do more than make up for depreciation, they do not expand their productive capacity except to the extent that they can embed improved technology in their replacements for worn-out or obsolete capital goods. In general, economic growth requires net investment, and more rapid economic growth requires a greater rate of net investment.

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The stunning speed of events in the Middle East that brought about the fall of Tunisia’s strong-arm dictator, Zine el Abidine Ben Ali, followed by the resignation of former Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak might suggest that our intelligence services were caught napping.  While the final chapter of the ousters of Mubarak and Ben Ali have not yet been written, depending upon the outcome, political recriminations are certain to follow.  After all, some historians still are asking the question:  “Who lost China?”  While blame is invariably a by‑product of political debate in a democracy, particularly where our intelligence services seem to have been caught flat‑footed, we suspect there is less here than meets the eye.

To over simplify, we might categorize small intelligence failures into two main areas:  those that involve state secrets that could be uncovered only by traditional cloak and dagger work; and those that derive from actual political conditions on the ground that can foment potential revolutionary change.  Even though the latter can involve tens of thousands of people when they erupt, they are more apt to be missed than intelligence that is gathered through traditional sleuthing.  We will get back to the reason for this later in this essay.   Our failure to know that Saddam’s nuclear arsenal didn’t exist or that North Korea would suddenly conduct nuclear tests or that some shadowy group would attack the USS Cole and later the World Trade Center, are failures of our traditional intelligence assets.   Although those events were planned virtually under cover of strict military secrecy, which is obviously difficult to penetrate, it is not an excuse for northpoor undercover work given the billions of dollars we spend on it.

Contrast that with political explosions in Tunisia, Egypt. Libya, Bahrain or Iran, which toppled from power the likes of President Ben Ali, President Mubarak, or, 35 years ago, the Shah of Iran.  Those events, once triggered, seem to take on a life of their own often leading to chaos with participants having different goals . . . or no simple unifying objective.  Sometimes they operate like mobs without leaders.  The forces that are unleashed seem to know what they don’t want (the current despotic leadership) but typically can’t articulate a coherent set of demands.  What is even more difficult to predict is the potential ripple effect of a sea change in a despotic form of government.

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In testimony before a congressional committee in 2008, John Boyd introduced himself and said “I am Dr. John Boyd. I am President and founder of the National Black Farmers Association, which has more than 94,000 members in 46 states.”

In addition to my strong back in agriculture, I also founded the John Boyd Agricultural and Technology Institute to help educate farmers of all educational levels in order to fight illiteracy. To teach familiarity with and use of the internet, and much more. The program has assisted several thousand farmers and has been expanded to Denmark Technical College.

Boyd’s National Black Farmers Association website has a page about the John Boyd Argicultural and Technology Institute as well — complete with a photo showing a road sign.

In a ‘10 Questions’ article in 2009, John Boyd began one of his answers by prefacing, “Being a visiting professor and forming the John Boyd Agriculture and Technology Institute”.

As I was driving through Virginia yesterday, I decided to take a drive by the Boyd Institute and hoped to walk the hallowed halls that have taught thousands of farmers. Boyd has talked about the Boyd Institute so much that I was keen to visit this august institute.

But there’s no there there. Literally.

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WTF is going on in the world??

Say you don’t have the dough to add the fashions you see at Sunday’s Academy Awards ceremony to your closet. If you buy knockoffs instead, are you shopping smart or stealing?

Today it’s perfectly legal to copy whatever you see on the red carpet and sell it yourself. To some, such as  Diane Von Furstenburg, this sounds a lot like theft. The former German princess is one of the world’s most successful fashion designers and she’s teaming up with Senator Chuck Schumer (D-NY) to push a bill that would give designers a three-year monopoly on new creations.

The whole point of intellectual property is to spur innovation, and that, according to supporters, is exactly why the fashion industry needs such a bill. Without tougher protections, they say designers will have less incentive to create new looks.

But is the fashion industry really hurting for innovation? And are top-tier designers like Von Furstenberg really getting ripped off by bargain hunters? And even if they were, who’s to say whose look is truly original?

Johanna Blakely of USC’s Norman Lear Center worries that the relentless push for more intellectual property protection could lead to a situation where big design houses lawyer up and sue young designers. Designer Galina Sobolov, head designer and owner of Single by Galina Sobolov, agrees.

“If this bill was in effect as we grew our company, we would have faced probably millions of lawsuits,” says Sobolov, whose designs have been worn by celebs such as Katy Perry and Rachel Hunter. “And we would have never actually had a company.”

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I can think of no better way to upset the lefties in your life – and please the inner you – than pre-ordering my forthcoming coming-of-rage® book, Righteous Indignation: Excuse Me While I Save the World. Learn how I went from left to right, then decided to take on the world and become an unexpected culture warrior.

Buy it at Amazon.com

Come one, come all. Come Tea Partiers, come conservatives, RINOs, classical liberals, drum circle types, SEIU/ACORN community organizees! This book is about love, rage, righteousness, a great media correcting, and about cultural and political renewal!

Come people who have met me at restaurants, tapas bars, taquerias, expensive cupcake shoppes. People who have gone to grade school, high school and college with me. Kids who grew up playing little league with me. The teachers whose lives I often made miserable.

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Just when I thought I’d seen it all, I find out I haven’t.  On an issue that should not even register at the national level, the bad got the better of the good, and things turned ugly.

The point of this narrative is to highlight what can happen when Republicans think the tea party is not watching, but first some background.

Missouri did well November last.  Robin Carnahan (D), Missouri’s Secretary of State that aided ACORN in raiding state coffers, lost to Roy Blunt (R) in the Senate race, despite the fact that she received a state record for votes in 2008 (1,743,819 in 2008 to 768,241 in 2010).  Republicans knocked off the incumbent in the only state office up for election, auditor.  Vicky Hartzler (R) knocked off US Rep. Ike Skelton (D) (of “Stick it up your @$$!” fame) in Missouri’s 4th District, a seat he held since 1976.  Ed Martin (R) came within 1% of unseating US Rep. Russ Carnahan (D) (the least capable Carnahan) in a D+7 heavy union district, and in spite of the fact that he was a known tea partier before he was a candidate.  Not to mention Republican gains in the state assembly that left the Senate veto-proof and the House nearly veto-proof.

All should be well in Missouri, except it ain’t.

The issue is local control of the police department in St. Louis, where a vestige of the Civil War left the state in control of the St. Louis and Kansas City police through boards composed of city residents and the respective mayors.  Where one might think this would be an easy issue for the tea party and conservatives, one would be horribly wrong.  Strange coalitions have formed in Missouri.  Some members of the St. Louis Tea Party Coalition find themselves siding with the St. Louis Police Officers Association and Governor Jay Nixon (D) against Lt. Governor Peter Kinder (R), House Speaker Steven Tilley (R) and St. Louis Mayor Francis Slay (D).

To make a long story short, the tea party position revolves around whether granting Mayor Slay total control of the police would be an action of responsible governance.  St. Louis politics resemble Chicago politics, though on a smaller scale, and it appears many are concerned the dysfunctional nature of St. Louis government will infect the police in a city plagued by crime.  Those who support local control believe the police will be more accountable to the public through the mayor.  Obviously, the issue of local control is more complicated than the brief synopsis I have provided, but I do not have space to spell it all out.

Now that we have a basic understanding of the issue and the parties involved we can get down to the dirt. (more…)

As the rhetoric continues to escalate and vitriol is directed at Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker, the left willfully ignores all the hate and incivility.  Fewer than 40 days after the Tucson Tragedy, the left is once again using heated rhetoric and resorting to thug-like behavior to intimidate their political opponents.

But as the budget fix bill moves closer to a vote, there is reason to fear that the protestors might resort to mob-like behavior.

As the Madison demonstrations drag on, safety is becoming a concern. Sources indicate that Capitol security forces are planning for the worst, and with good reason.

Consider this veiled threat by Mike Imbrogno, a public employee and an executive board member of the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees. After a recent International Socialist Organization meeting, Imbrogno told an EAGtv reporter, “I hope Scott Walker goes down in the next few weeks….”

A recall process against the governor legally cannot begin until he’s been in office for 12 months. An AFSCME leader would know this. So what could he mean?

Imbrogno has used similar coded language recently.  Consider his rant posted on SocialistWorker.org:

The rallies are supposed to be followed by time for “lobbying” members of the legislature to vote no on the worst aspects of these attacks. But this battle won’t be won in the offices of these right-wing pigs. It will be won by framing these political questions in the streets.

The mood around the Capitol is tense and the unions are stoking it.

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In 2009, after 41 years as the nations top education lawyer for the National Education Association, Bob Chanin gave his farewell address in which he said it’s not about kids, but about power.

“Despite what some among us would like to believe it is not because of our creative ideas. It is not because of the merit of our positions. It is not because we care about children and it is not because we have a vision of a great public school for every child. NEA and its affiliates are effective advocates because we have power.”

“And we have power because there are more than 3.2 million people who are willing to pay us hundreds of millions of dollars in dues each year, because they believe that we are the unions that can most effectively represent them, the unions that can protect their rights and advance their interests as education employees.”

“This is not to say that the concern of NEA and its affiliates with closing achievement gaps, reducing dropout rates, improving teacher quality and the like are unimportant or inappropriate. To the contrary. These are the goals that guide the work we do. But they need not and must not be achieved at the expense of due process, employee rights and collective bargaining. That simply is too high a price to pay.”

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Surprise, surprise. The Obama administration has broken yet another promise on transparency.

This time it involves a Homeland Security (DHS) report detailing the agency’s investigation of an illegal alien who killed a Virginia nun in a drunk-driving accident in August 2010. Judicial Watch filed a Freedom of Information Act (FOIA) lawsuit to obtain the report, which was scheduled to be released by January 18, 2011. (At least that’s what DHS told Judicial Watch and a federal court.) However, the Obama administration now claims the report is in “draft” form and is therefore exempt from FOIA.

Here’s how all of this went down over the course of the last month.

On January 6, 2011, Judicial Watch received the following message in an email from the Assistant U.S. Attorney (AUSA) assigned to Judicial Watch’s FOIA lawsuit:

I have discussed this matter with the agency and have been advised that the requested report/memorandum has been processed and will be disclosed subject to redaction of certain personal/privacy information under FOIA Exemptions 6/7C. The agency hopes to disclose the material by January 18, 2011. Accordingly, you will receive and have an opportunity to review the release during the requested 30-day extension period. We can then discuss what, if anything, remains of the case.

Anything vague about the phrase “will be disclosed”? We certainly didn’t think so.

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From The New York Daily News:

As nearly 5,000 city teachers face the ax, their union shells out millions of dollars on feasting, boozing and partying, the Daily News has learned.

Free-spending United Federation of Teachers brass last year spent nearly $1.4 million for the UFT’s 50th anniversary gala at the Hilton – complete with a movie, a book and a paperweight.

Records show they:

• Ponied up $514,000 to 16 separate caterers.
• Dropped $278,417 on the annual Teachers Union Day ceremony at the Waldorf-Astoria.
• Bought $6,100 in gift baskets from a lower East Side candy store – and plowed $179,000 into training retreats at a Connecticut resort boasting golf, scuba diving and aqua aerobics.

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Michelle Malkin today posted the video below. As you can see, the unions haven’t gotten the memo on the new emphasis on ‘civility.’ Of course, things aren’t going particularly well for public sector unions these days and desperate people will say and do desperate things.

While all eyes are on Wisconsin Gov. Scott Walker and his efforts to reform his state’s spending, Indiana is leading the way with broad-based education reforms.

Superintendent of Public Instruction Tony Bennett is pushing several concrete reforms: limiting collective bargaining, expansion of charter schools, increased accountability for teachers and administrators, performance pay for teachers and vouchers for middle and low income Hoosiers.

It is easily the most aggressive education reform agenda in the country.  And the aggressive action will cause the National Education Association to put a target on Bennett’s back in the next election.

Watch ‘Indiana Reformers Take Action’ – Episode 10 – “Kids Aren’t Cars”

Big Labor is pulling out all the stops to defeat his agenda.  Will the union bosses be successful or will Indiana schools finally put the interests of children first?

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On today’s edition of Coffee and Markets, Brad Jackson and Ben Domenech are joined by Tim Carney to discuss unions, Wisconsin and the influence of special interests. Then Pejman Yousefzadeh discusses Chicago’s new Mayor, Rahm Emanuel.

We’re brought to you as always by BigGovernment and Stephen Clouse and Associates. If you’d like to email us, you can do so at coffee[at]newledger.com. We hope you enjoy the show.

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Wednesday afternoon, Barack Obama trotted out his favorite “document of negative rights,” The U.S. Constitution, and used it to chart a course that will do away with the Defense of Marriage Act.  According to the President, the act signed by Bill Clinton is unconstitutional, and he’s ordered Attorney General Eric Holder to stop defending it in court cases.   Holder has agreed and will cease defense of the law, which states marriage is between a man and a woman.

There’s so much wrong with this, it’s hard to know where to start.

First and foremost, the President has no right to declare something unconstitutional.  You don’t have to be a “community organizer” turned “constitutional scholar” to know this.  Heck, anyone who’s seen even five minutes of Schoolhouse Rock is probably aware of the three branches of government.  The Judiciary branch is responsible for determining constitutionality, not the Executive.  Pronouncing the law unconstitutional, without due process, is a gross overextension of Presidential authority.

Second, both the President and the Attorney General have sworn an oath to uphold the nation’s laws.  It’s not their place to determine which ones they view as being worthy of defense of implementation.  If the Legislative branch chooses to pass a law doing away with the Defense of Marriage act, that’s their prerogative.  The President can sign it as he sees fit.  Otherwise, Holder is there to enforce and support the laws as they exist, not as his boss wishes they did.  In refusing to defend the law as written, both Obama and Holder are willfully derelict in their duties.

Finally, since when is Obama so concerned with Constitutionality?

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